Today we had another art talk. Our regular Dan graciously volunteered to gift us with a researched slide talk about the UK artist L. S. Lowery who is well known in his home country but somehow not in the US. As usual, we waited for about twenty minutes or so for people to join in before beginning the art talk. Everyone reported that they’re vaccinated and we commended our resilience on seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. “Herd is the Word” someone cheered. I mentioned for my hobby as an actor I’d had two Zoom auditions already, one paired with different actors in little boxes, one set up as a panel audition like in real life, an insight to the future hybrid of mixing Zoom, here with the audition, with real life, for which the performance was anticipated. And we talked about our friend’s ankle healing efforts and her challenges with the big boot she’s now wearing.
This art talk was especially fun. We’ve been meeting like this for over a year now and we’ve become comfortable with each other and with the format. So as Dan talked we all jumped in and gave our thoughts and observations and the conversation quickly became especially vibrant and engaged. We discussed the colors and use of light in the paintings, the people in the pictures, and what it might have meant with regard to the time and place of post industrial England. We learned Lowery was offered a knighthood and turned it down, how he never married, and cared for his mother over her long illness. We looked at several pictures, discussed his life, observed the details. And we ended with some erotic drawings and paintings he had done that were discovered after he passed, weird pictures now on line that previously required special permission to view from the museum that held them. We then veered away from Lowery and talked a bit about the impact of the erotic art, and somehow this led to talking about impact of sound and light on healing pain and PTSD and the new gadgets that are evolving to use it.
